19 days to Bifurcation..| Over 4.5L govt employees told to cite UT preference

SRINAGAR: Ahead of its formal bifurcation into the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the State administration on Friday sought options from around 4.5 lakh state government employees for their allocation to either UT, so as to give the final shape to the division of officers.
The employees are asked to submit their preferences by 22 October, leaving the government with eight days to finalise the allocation, before the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh come into existence on 31 October.
However, the government is not bound to allocate the employees one of the two UTs in line with their preference.
“It will be the prerogative of the government to allot and depute the employee,” an official circular issued today.
The division of employees became imperative after the Centre bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir into two successor union territories of J&K, and Ladakh as per the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
Section 89(2) of the Act gives for allocation of employees of the State of J&K among two UTs.
The Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir would, soon after October 31, determine to which of the two UTs, every state employee is to be finally allotted for service, after consideration of option received by seeking option from the employees, and the date with effect from which such allotment would take effect or be deemed to have taken effect, the section reads.
In line with the act, the government today issued the circular to the administrative secretaries, heads of departments and government employees.
“Lt Governor would decide which UT the employees would be allocated to for service after considering the options from the employees,” it said.
"The state government hereby seeks options from the employees who are serving on substantive basis in connection with the affairs of the existing State of Jammu and Kashmir for their further allocation to the successor Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh," it said, adding the employees are to submit their application forms duly filled to their department heads while submitting their reasons to back their choice.
The last date for submitting the options is October 22, said the order signed by secretary to the state government, Farooq Ahmad Lone.
It said that while the administration will take into account the preference cited by the employee, it would not be obligatory for the government to allocate the employee to the UT of his or her choice, but it will be the prerogative of the government to allot or depute the employee.
In order to meet any deficiency in service, the Lt Gov can depute officers from one UT to the other UT, it said referring to rules.
“Provided that even after the allocation has been made, Lieutenant Governor of Union territory of Jammu and Kashmir may in order to meet any deficiency in the service, depute officers from one successor Union territory to the other Union territory,” the section 89(2) of the J&K reorganisation Act 2019 reads.
The circular further asked the Administrative Departments to ensure that every employee enters details in the form and submits the form duly signed to the concerned Head of the Department after due verification by the Drawing and Disbursing Officer concerned.
Earlier, a high-level team of the Ministry of Personnel visited the State last month to give the final shape to the division of officers belonging to All India Services among the two UTs.
Besides the state employees, the officers belonging to All India services like the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and the Indian Police Service (IPS) would also be allocated between the two UTs.
Similarly, the officers will be given the option to choose regarding where they want to serve in the two Union territories and this transfer will be determined by the Lt Governor, it is the central government—specifically the Ministry of Personnel, which will have the power to review any of the orders.
As of now, the sanctioned strength of IAS officers in J&K is 138, which was mooted to be increased to 145 by then Governor N N Vohra. While it is still not known, if the proposal sent during the Governor’s rule in 2016, was approved by Centre or not, the harsh reality remains that there are only 66 IAS officers currently on J&K cadre—16 of them on Central deputation, bringing the effective number to 50—and among them four are under training.
Meanwhile, the Government today directed all the Administrative Secretaries to remain available at Headquarters on the Appointed Day of formation of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh.
According to an order issued by GAD, all the Administrative Secretaries would not move outside the state during the transit days of annual Darbar Move in October-November 2019.
Further, all the Administrative Secretaries would remain available at Srinagar on the Appointed Day i.e. October 31, 2019, the order reads.

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